Mini posters from the flea market

Someone discovered the two small posters, mounted but unframed, at a flea market.  My Little Chickadee (1940), starred Mae West and W.C. Fields, as pictured, in the comedy western.  These two stars were old vaudevillians. Their skits were polished from decades of performing their well-known characters live in theaters across the country.  The movie is less an amusing look at the nineteenth century American West as it is a revival of early twentieth century popular entertainment...and a spoof by both stars about their own stage personas.

The poster is modern souvenir kitsch, such as you may find on the walls of any home of a classic film fan.  The art department of Universal Studios would marvel at this.  

Stanley and Livingstone (1939), from 20th Century Fox, was made the year before My Little Chickadee, and likewise looked back on a more innocent if more adventurous era as the reporter played by Spencer Tracy attempts to track down the missionary in the wilds of Africa.

We were on the brink of entering World War II when these movies with old-fashioned themes became hits of the modern era.  The posters are in public domain, copied and copied, and put on mugs, magnets, and any other handy item that will hold a brightly colored illustration.  The merchandizing is not publicizing the movie anymore, however; it's publicizing the art department of the studio.  Unsung and forgotten, but whose work is still appreciated, and apparently, still just as marketable as the movie.

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My thanks to Gail Watson for these posters and her knowledge of collectibles.

Vaudeville - No Applause, Please, Just Throw Money by Trav S.D.

Vaudeville gave us many performers whose careers we've come to know from their eventual migration to Hollywood and the movies.  In turn, some movies managed to chronicle vaudeville performances and preserve them on film so we can enjoy them today.  It's a special relationship.

I've mentioned before on this blog the other points on the "star" that comprise the universe of the twentieth century actor: movies, of course, but also the stage, radio, and television.  The fifth point on the star is vaudeville.  I consider this separate from "the stage" because it was a unique world apart from full-length dramas, comedies, or musicals. 

Cary Grant started in vaudeville. Those simple acrobatics he performed in Holiday (1938) were learned when he was a youth, when he was Archie Leach, in vaudeville.

W.C. Fields, sure, and Mae West, and the Marx Brothers, but they essentially brought their vaudeville acts to the screen.  Mr. Grant, or we should say, Mr. Leach, morphed into something and someone altogether completely new.  The movies created many "personas" for many actors whose images, not to say talents, were a work in progress. Vaudeville was the training ground.

This post is just to point you in the direction of a swell book that is a terrific survey of vaudeville if you know little about it and want to know more:  No Applause - Just Throw Money, by Trav S. D. 

A few years ago I reviewed his book on silent film comedy, Chain of Fools, here.  He also writes the blog Travalanche, a wealth of information on classic films and vaudeville.  He's one of my favorite writers.

As I've mentioned in this post a few weeks ago, I'm currently working on a book about a summer stock playhouse on Mt. Tom in Holyoke, Massachusetts.  Vaudeville played an important part in the early days of this theater, and Trav's book has been a most enjoyable part of my research.

His knowledge on this art form and era is impressive, and you will be hard pressed to find a guide to this fascinating world more articulate and funny.  It really is a very enjoyable book, and I recommend it to anybody interested not only in vaudeville, but in classic films.  Exploring the history of vaudeville will enhance your appreciation of classic films. 

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Next week we continue our series on the current state of the classic film fan with a discussion with Patricia Nolan Hall, aka Caftan Woman.

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Louise Beavers

Louise Beavers reportedly aspired to be a physician when she was a young woman, but opportunities were limited for women in the early part of the 20th century, especially if they were not well to do, and particularly if they were African-American. She trail-blazed in another way, becoming the first African-American actress to play a substantial role on film that showed a multi-dimensional character.

“Imitation of Life” (1934) was Miss Beavers’ most prominent role, sharing the spotlight and the storyline equally with star Claudette Colbert. The story of a woman whose light-skinned daughter callously rejects her mother in attempting to pass for a white woman cut to the heart of a racist Hollywood and a racist America, drawing controversy from both white and black commentators. It was also the story of a career woman, who begins as a simple cook but who becomes a famous entrepreneur and merchandiser not only of her own product but her own image. Many felt at the time that Miss Beavers was robbed when her performance was not acknowledged with an Academy Award nomination.

It was an important role in a potentially important film, but after that a string of the regular domestic servant roles became the mainstay of Louise Beavers’ career. However, she played opposite some of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars, including Mae West, Jean Harlow, with whom she appeared in “Bombshell,” and Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in “Holiday Inn.”

Later, Miss Beavers broke new ground again by starring in “Beulah,” the first TV sitcom to feature an African-American. Three other actresses also took turns at that character, one of them being her good friend, Hattie McDaniel, who also knew something about the trials of reaching for success in Hollywood while dressed in a maid’s costume. These two ladies were character actresses who could have been, and should have been, stars.